Ultimatum- Part 7
by GradualHail6758
Summary: This is what happens when the Spartans we ended with in Ghosts of Onyx find themselves in separate worlds where magic is real, technology is slow, heroes exist, and the missing could be closer than you think. Based off the characters from the books, games, cartoons, comics, tv series and movies that make up this web of worlds.


**Disclaimer: If I owned these, would I be writing a FAN-fiction? I own nothing except the plot, an iPod, and the burning desire of a fan.**

**This is what happens when the Spartans we ended with in Ghosts of Onyx find themselves in separate worlds where magic is real, technology is slow, heroes exist, and the missing could be closer than you think. Based off the characters from the books, games, cartoons, comics, tv series and movies that make up this web of worlds.**

* * *

**7; Part 1 Ch. 1 "Far From Home"**

**-Normandy SR2, Commander Shepard-**

He exited the Briefing room after finishing his talk with the Miranda and Jacob about the Krogan super soldier in the pod. He made his way back to his Private Terminal at CIC.

"Something you'd like to say, Kelly?" He asked having noticed her looking at him.

"The Illusive man would like to speak to you in the Briefing room." She said, blushing.

"Alright, thank you. That'll be all." He said with a smile.

He made his way back to the briefing room and was about to step inside when a violent tremor shook the ship.

"Joker, what's going on!?" Shepard demanded.

"I don't know, Commander. Something hit us." A nervous Joker replied.

"Seconds before the impact I detected an anomaly near the ship." EDI said.

"You couldn't have warned us?" Joker said.

"Calculations suggested it was irrelevant." EDI responded.

"What did we hit?" Shepard cut in.

"My sensors show two identical structures, but of unknown origin." EDI said.

"What else can you tell me about them?" Shepard asked hustling up to the bridge.

"Shepard, I've detected life signs aboard those structures." EDI said, trace emotion in her voice.

"EDI prep the shuttle. Tell Dr. Chakwas to be ready for injured." Shepard ordered as he ran back to the elevator.

**[TIME UNKNOWN] [LOCATION UNKNOWN] SPARTAN-G274 MISSION CLOCK**

'Oh, what a terrific headache,' he thought as he woke up. He heard voices near him so he opened his eyes groggily to see where he was. Light from the ceiling nearly blinded him but his eyes quickly re-focused.

He saw two people standing over him: a man to his left and a woman to his right. 'What? Where am I? How did I get here?' He blinked several times and tried to speak but coughed instead.

"He's awake." The man said.

'The last thing I remember was being taken down . . . did I pass out? Oh how embarrassing,' he thought as he continued coughing. He sat up and saw that he was out of his armor and in his black under suit. He also saw a familiar face in a bed 'or was it a table? . . . it doesn't matter,' on the wall opposite of him. It was Liam, he seemed to be unconscious and he was out of his armor as well. The room had the feel of a medical wing.

"Conscious cerebral activity is clear. No problems, Commander." The woman said. 'Yep a medical wing . . . or was it a bay? Wait, Commander?'

"How are you feeling?" the man asked.

"Good." O'Wynn said. "A little confused, but good."

"We're confused as well. Perhaps we can compare notes." The man said. O'Wynn nodded in agreement.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander John Shepard, Captain of The SSV Normandy SR2. Formerly of the Systems Alliance Navy " He said extending his hand. O'Wynn jumped to his feet and snapped off a salute.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir. I am Petty Officer Third Class O'Wynn-G274, SPARTAN-III Commando of Gamma Company, UNSC Navy."

"At ease Soldier." Shepard said. O'Wynn relaxed his posture a little bit and his stomach growled.

"I told you he hadn't eaten for a long while, Commander. I'd say about four days." The woman said.

"O'Wynn, this is Dr. Karin Chakwas, our Chief Medical Officer on the SSV Normandy SR2" Shepard said.

The two shook hands.

"Shepard, There is no record of a UNSC in any database." an electronic female voice said.

"Who was that?" O'Wynn asked.

"That was EDI, our ship's AI." Shepard said. "EDI what are you talking about?" He asked.

"I searched every data log accessible and have yielded no results." EDI said.

"Are you feeling up for answering some questions?" Shepard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Sir. I'd like to find a few things out for myself as well." O'Wynn said. His stomach growled louder.

"Maybe we should talk over some food, our mess hall is right next door." Shepard said pointing out the window.

"Really? Wow, handy." O'Wynn said.

Shepard introduced O'Wynn to Mess Sergeant Gardner and then sat at the table not too far from there.

The two discussed various subjects for a long while. Neither was shocked too much from the others story and both handled the situation well. O'Wynn was offered second and third helpings of food, he happily accepted them.

After covering all the bases and clearing up most aspects, Shepard decided that; since there was not a known way for O'Wynn and Liam to return to their time and world; and from what O'Wynn said about the Spartan III training and life style, they both would stay on the Normandy and help fight the Collectors.

"Sounds great to me." O'Wynn said.

"We can find you both a place to sleep and get settled in." Shepard said.

"Sir, thank you for your concern but we only need one bed if that. We can go days without sleep and when we do, we do not require the comfort of a bed." O'Wynn said.

"Alright, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of room." Shepard said.

"I'll see to that, Shepard." a woman with a heavy accent said. She approached from behind Shepard. O'Wynn's eyes widened and he dropped his fork.

"Whoa..." he said under his breath as chills shot through his body.

"Miranda; nice of you to join us." Shepard said.

"I'm here to hurry you along to see the Illusive Man, he says what he has is critical and time-sensitive." She said.

"I'll get right on that, but first, Miranda this is O'Wynn; O'Wynn this is Miranda." Shepard said standing up. O'Wynn also stood and extended his hand.

"Ma'am, it's nice to meet you." He said with a smile.

" . . . Likewise." Miranda said after a moment of hesitation.

"O'Wynn, you should check in with Kelly, our Yeomen. She'll do a short psychiatric evaluation to help her build a profile on you." Shepard said. "Miranda will take you up and after that she'll show you the ship and introduce you to the crew." He added with a small grin.

Miranda shot Shepard a look and almost scoffed. "Come on." She said.

"That's a pretty nasty scar, O'Wynn." She said, trying to make conversation as the two took the elevator up to the next floor. He put a finger up to the top of his cheek.

"It's a reminder." O'Wynn said as he traced the jagged scar.

"You can have that fixed in the medical bay, you know. Dr. Chakwas can help reconstruct your face if you'd like." Miranda said. O'Wynn shook his head.

"It's a part of me now, a symbol." O'Wynn said, briefly recalling how he had gotten it. He felt emotions welling up and he stifled them quickly.

After O'Wynn met with Kelly, Miranda introduced him to Jacob, Garrus, Mordin, Jack, Joker and the rest of the crew.

"Interesting bunch." O'Wynn murmured as they returned to the Medical bay to check on Liam.

Dr. Chakwas was not in there.

O'Wynn leaned against one of the windows in the med bay and stared at Liam's unconscious body. Miranda joined him against the window.

"So what's your story?" she asked.

"The short version? I'm a chemically enhanced super soldier from an alternate future . . . or something like that. As for how I got here, that's still a mystery." He said.

"Vague, care to share some details?" She asked.

The two conversed detailed topics of his origin for a while but were interrupted when Shepard came over the ship's intercom, informing them all that they would be reaching Horizon in a matter of minutes and to gear up.

"Hey when we get back, I want to hear a little about you since I've told you a lot about me." O'Wynn said.

"Fair enough." Miranda said walking to the door.

O'Wynn put his armor on and checked his weapons. He debated removing the "Kill" sticker from his back. It was now one of the only things from "Home", but it would also interfere with his suit's camouflage. He decided to remove it, but keep it. He put it in one of his armor compartments. Before he left the med bay, he put a hand on Liam's arm.

"Come on buddy, hang in there."

**-Iera System, Horizon colony-**

The shuttle touched down. Shepard, Miranda, Jack and O'Wynn exited. Their attention was immediately drawn to a tower like ship not too far from their position. Swarms of bugs were everywhere.

"We're groundside. Mordin, you sure those armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?" Shepard asked over the COM.

"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory." Mordin said.

"In theory?" Miranda asked.

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive!" Mordin said.

O'Wynn fired his new Avenger rifle he'd gotten from the armory. "Contact. One down." he said as the creature fell.

More creatures approached, attracted by the shots. The team quickly took them down and pushed onward.

"Comman…-tting all kinds…-ference. We can't maintain…" Joker's voice said over the static washed COM.

"The Collectors must be blocking us." Jack said.

"We're on our own now." Shepard said.

More of the "Collectors" appeared and attacked the group. This time they had another type of creature with them. "Whoa! What the hell are these things?" O'Wynn asked after kicking one off him. With no answer from the others he continued fighting.

"Those things look like the husks the Geth used on Eden Prime." Shepard said after the fight was over.

"Didn't that Geth stuff come from Sovereign?" Jack asked.

"Then the Illusive Man was right. The Collectors must work for the Reapers." Miranda said.

They stopped near one of the husk's bodies. "It sort of looks human; I guess we know what happened to the colonists." Miranda said with a small shiver.

"No. On Eden Prime victims were impaled on giant spikes to turn them into husks. I haven't seen any on Horizon." Shepard said.

"So the Collectors had the husks, and took the colonists alive for something else." Jack said.

"Um.. eeww." O'Wynn said.

"The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims. Let's move out." Shepard said.

"Sir." O'Wynn said in acknowledgement.

"Whatever you say, boss man." Jack said.

Turning a corner they found another quiet part of the colony. "Peaceful. Usually takes a lot of chemicals for me to get this kind of quiet." Jack said. More Collectors popped up and fired on them. The group took cover, popping up for a shot every now and then. After pushing through slowly, the group killed the present Collectors and came upon a few seemingly paralyzed colonists. A few were upright and looked as if they had been running, others lay on the ground. "What is this, a stasis field? Leaves them helpless, but aware." Jack said upon seeing the blackish pulsing color outlining the colonists.

"They've been like this a long time." Shepard noted.

"Hey, what's this?" O'Wynn asked pointing to an odd looking weapon.

"I'm not sure." Miranda said.

"Bring it along just in case. Could be handy in another firefight." Shepard said.

'Alright, cool,' O'Wynn thought as he attached it to his weapons holder on his back.

A few more Collectors flew in using what resembled wings. 'Makes sense I guess, kinda like bugs,' O'Wynn thought. As soon as they landed one of them glowed slightly orange and was lifted into the air. Energy pulsed off of it briefly and it returned to the ground. A deep voice spoke but O'Wynn did not give it time to finish as he shot the glowing Collector with the new gun he'd found. The beam it emitted made short work of it. "Sweet." O'Wynn said. In a few more moments of the bullet storm and the Collectors were down.

"These things aren't that much to fight. They go down easily." O'Wynn said as they approached a big door.

"Locked. Bypassing." Shepard said. Seconds later the door opened. The room was empty and quiet . . . maybe too quiet. O'Wynn pointed to a small space at the end of the room. "Company. Get out here, now!" Shepard said raising his gun. A human face peeked out. Relieved the group lowered their weapons.

"You're… you're human! What are you doing out here? You'll lead them right here!" The man said.

"You had to hear them trying to get in. Seems like it's hard to hide from the Collectors." Shepard said.

"Those things are Collectors? You mean… they're real?" The man paused. "I thought they were made up. You know – propaganda. To keep us in Alliance Space." He said. Then a thought struck the man. "No! They got Lilith. I saw her go down. Sten too. They got damn near everybody!" He said.

"What's your name? What do you do here?" Shepard asked.

"Name's Delan. Mechanic. I came down to check on the main grid after we lost our comm signals. Then I heard screaming. I looked outside and there were . . . swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I sealed the doors. Damn it – it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those defense towers. It made us a target!" Delan said.

"Tell me more about this Alliance rep." Shepard said.

"Chief Williams? Heard she was some kind of hero or something. Didn't mean nothing to me, though. Would've rather she just stayed back in Council Space." Delan said.

"Any idea what she was doing on Horizon?" Shepard asked.

"Supposed to be helping us get the defense towers up and running. I got the feeling she was here for something else. Spying on us, maybe." Delan said.

"If you have defenses we can use them against the Collector ship!" Shepard said.

"You'd need to calibrate the targeting system first. It's never worked right." Delan said.

"We can figure it out. Just give us the location." Jack said with a little impatience.

"Head for the main transmitter on the other side of the colony. Pretty hard to miss. The targeting controls are at the base." Delan said.

"You know this colony and the equipment. You better come with us." Shepard said.

"Not a chance in hell." Delan said.

"He'd just get in the way, Sir." O'Wynn said.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Delan said.

"I'll let you out, but I'm locking the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances." Delan said as he fumbled with his Omni-tool. "Good luck. I think you're going to need it." He added as the door unlocked.

"Move out." Shepard said.

The group exited the building and headed to the right. "Trouble incoming." Jack said after spotting more Collectors. Shots rang out and enemies fell, again.

"This is almost getting repetitive." O'Wynn said as the group meandered to another locked door.

"How come we don't see more frozen people around?" Miranda asked as Shepard bypassed the door's lock.

"Probably loaded onto the Collector ship by now. Guess they're almost done here." Jack said. The door opened and the group moved through. More husks and Scions were waiting for them.

O'Wynn grabbed one of the husks. "Agh, I hate these things." He said throwing it into another husk.

This fight was also over fairly quickly.

"There's the transmitter." Miranda said.

Shepard quickly hacked the computer.

"Normandy? Do you copy?" Shepard asked.

"Joker here. Signal's weak Commander, but we got you." Joker said.

"EDI—can you get the colony's defense towers online?" Shepard asked.

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take some time to bring the towers to full power. I recommend a defense posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output." EDI said.

"The Collectors will try to stop it. Good." Jack said. Miranda got a half excited half worried look. O'Wynn decided not to bring it up.

"We'll stop them. Easy enough." O'Wynn said shooting a reassuring glance at Miranda.

"Maybe not. Enemy reinforcements closing in. I suggest you ready weapons." EDI said.

The team huddled behind cover, lying in wait to strike. They heard the sound of Collector feet hitting the ground and they sprung up, weapons blazing.

"Hello dead people." Jack said catching a few Collectors with head shots.

"Bypassing failsafes and attempting emergency power-up. Please hold the defense tower." EDI said.

"We've got this under control." O'Wynn said as he punched through one of the Collector's chests. Miranda shot the last Collector between the eyes.

"There'll be more. There's always more." She said.

"Same tactic as before, Sir?" O'Wynn asked Shepard.

"It worked well. Let's see how it works a second time around." Shepard said. The group again huddled behind crates and waited.

"Sequential power-up initiated. GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 40%." EDI said. Husks swarmed from the left and the team opened fire with incendiary rounds.

"More coming! Guess we got their attention." Jack said an almost happy tone to her voice.

Another glowing Collector landed, this time it spoke before it was taken down. "I will direct this Personally, Shepard." It said in an eerie voice.

"Did that thing just speak?" O'Wynn asked as he fired at the thing.

"GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 60%. Syncing targeting protocols to Normandy systems. Continue to protect the tower." EDI said. Shepard unloaded most of his clip on the last Collector.

"No way that's it, got to be more soon." Jack said. Before the team could get to cover, O'Wynn spotted something big.

"Something big flying in, Sir." He said pointing up in the sky. It flew fast and landed on the ground. "Whoa, that thing is ugly mother-"

O'Wynn was cut off by a laser shot from the thing's eyes. The team opened fire on the thing but it had a barrier that kept recharging when it landed on the ground.

"GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 100%. I have control." EDI said. The towers opened fire on the Collector ship while the team still tried to take down the Praetorian. "Firing anti-ship batteries at Collector vessel." EDI said.

O'Wynn stood from cover and sprinted at the nearest crate. Using his enhanced leg muscles he sprung upward onto the creature and unloaded his entire clip into the Praetorian's face. It fell lifeless to the ground. He laughed and looked up at the Collector ship. The vessel's engines started up and sent dirt and smoke into the air.

"They're pulling out!" Jack yelled. The ship took off and left fairly quickly.

"They took most of the colonists." Miranda said.

"Those bastards got what they came for." Jack said angrily.

Delan came running up. "No! Don't let them get away!" He said.

"There's nothing we can do. They're gone." Shepard said.

"Half the colony's in there! They took Egan and Sam and… and Lilith. Do something!" He said.

"I didn't want it to end this way. I did what I could." Shepard said almost hanging his head.

"It was a good fight, Sir." O'Wynn said.

"Liam's right, Shepard." Miranda said.

"Shepard? Wait, I know that name." Delan said turning around. "Sure, I remember you. You're some type of big Alliance hero." He added.

A woman walked out into the open. "Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Citadel." She said as she approached. "You're standing in the presence of a god, Delan. Back from the dead." She added.

"All the good people we lost, and you get left behind. Figures." Delan said crossing his arms. "Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types." He said walking off.

The woman walked right up to Shepard and gave him a hug. "I thought you were dead, Commander. We all did." She said. They broke the embrace.

"It's been too long, Ash. How've you been?" Shepard asked.

"That's it? You show up after two years and act like nothing's happened? I've spent the last two years believing you were dead. We had something, Shepard. Something real. I . . . I loved you. I thought you were dead. I almost . . . how could you put me through that? Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?" She said.

"It wasn't by choice. I spent two years in a sort of coma while Cerberus rebuilt me." Shepard said. She took a step back.

"You're with Cerberus now?" She asked. "I can't believe the reports were right." She said.

"Reports? So much for security." Miranda said.

"Alliance Intel said Cerberus could be behind our missing colonies. We got a tip that this one could be next to get hit. I went to Anderson but he wouldn't talk, but there were rumors that you weren't dead. Worse—that you were working for the enemy." She said.

O'Wynn decided that this was a private matter, so he turned around and selected to not pay attention to the conversation. He kicked at the dirt and waited for Shepard and "Ash" to finish.

"Joker, Send the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony." Shepard said. O'Wynn took the hint and turned around.

While they waited for the shuttle O'Wynn thought of a way to ask about Shepard's relationship with "Ash" but yielding no fitting words, he decided not to pursue the subject.

Once back on the ship EDI told Commander Shepard that The Illusive Man wished to speak with him. Shepard thanked EDI and departed for the Briefing room. Miranda and O'Wynn split off to continue their conversation. Jack noticed them departing together and made a mental note of it.

Miranda and O'Wynn entered Miranda's office. "Wow, nice place you have here." O'Wynn said making a visual sweep of the place.

The two sat down and conversed about Miranda's origin for a very long while.

"Wow." O'Wynn said at the end. "Sounds rough." He added. "Yes, but I'm here now. That's what matters." Miranda said standing and walking to a window.

"So you were engineered to be perfect." O'Wynn said. "That's what Shepard said." Miranda said with a sideways look. "Well it is obvious you have a thing for him." O'Wynn said. "What!?" Miranda said, blushing. "I uh... It shows huh?" She said giving up the facade. "A little bit, yeah." O'Wynn said with a laugh. "So what'd you think about when Chief Williams came into the picture?" O'Wynn asked. Miranda looked straight at the floor. "It doesn't matter. We'd never work anyway." She said. Picking up on the heavy emotion in her statement, O'Wynn decided to leave her alone.

"Thank you for sharing so freely, Miranda. I feel like we're friends already." O'Wynn said. Miranda nodded.

"It was nice to talk to someone who wouldn't judge you." She said. O'Wynn raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Everyone here has their own opinions about Cerberus, about my father, about me . . ." she said, trailing off.

"You mean someone impartial; someone who doesn't know any of this personally. Someone like me." O'Wynn said.

"Precisely." Miranda said.

"I see. You act like you're cocky, yet you're really an emotional time bomb." O'Wynn said nodding. Miranda was about to respond when EDI cut in over the intercom.

"Petty Officer O'Wynn. Petty Officer Liam is awake." EDI's said.

"Thank you, EDI, I'll be right over." O'Wynn said.

"O'Wynn!" Liam said as he jumped up and gave O'Wynn a hug.

"Liam, it's good to see you awake." O'Wynn said.

"So uh . . . where are we exactly?" Liam asked.

"It's a long story, little brother." O'Wynn said after taking a deep breath.

"Brother? You didn't say he was your brother." Miranda said from the doorway.

"We're not blood related, Miranda. All Spartans share a special bond. Spartans on the same team—"

"Like us," Liam interrupted.

"—are closer knit, but we're all still family." O'Wynn finished giving Liam a rub on the head.

"Oh." Miranda said.

**-Normandy SR2, Commander Shepard-**

Shepard exited the Briefing room after finishing his talk with The Illusive man. He made his way to his private terminal in the CIC and checked his messages.

"Have something for me Kelly?" He asked after seeing her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Kelly blushed slightly at being caught again.

"I heard that Ashley Williams was down on Horizon." She said.

"She was. It was good to see her again." Shepard said.

"There's something more to that though, isn't there?" Kelly asked.

The two spoke briefly about Ashley Williams and the Commander's strong feelings for her. "Was there anything else?" He asked.

"Miranda would like to see you down in her office." Kelly said. Shepard turned and headed for the elevator.

"Commander Shepard," EDI said. Shepard stopped.

"What is it EDI?" he asked.

"Petty Officer Liam has awakened." EDI said. "

Thank you EDI. I'll be right down." Shepard said. "I'll send him up to you when I'm done, Kelly." He added as he stepped into the elevator.

Shepard entered the Medical bay just as Miranda, Dr. Chakwas, O'Wynn, and Liam shared a laughed.

"Did I miss something?" He asked.

"Oh, Commander. Nice of you to join us." Dr. Chakwas said.

"Commander Shepard, Sir." O'Wynn said saluting. Liam followed suit.

"At ease, Soldiers." Shepard said.

"Sir, O'Wynn has informed me of our situation. We are in your debt." Liam said.

"Did O'Wynn tell you what we're going up against?" Shepard asked. Liam nodded.

"Yes he has, Sir." Liam said.

"Good. It's great to have you both aboard." Shepard said turning around to face Miranda.

"Kelly said you wanted to see me. What've you got?" He asked her.

"I had hoped to talk in private, Shepard." Miranda said. Shepard nodded at O'Wynn and he got the message. Dr. Chakwas did too.

"Let's get some food." O'Wynn said to Liam.

"Great idea." Liam said, partially because he had gotten the hint, and partially because he was hungry.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Liam asked O'Wynn as they sat at the table. O'Wynn put up a finger as he looked at Shepard and Miranda. "You're lip reading aren't you?" Liam said.

"Lip-reading, how intrusive." Dr. Chakwas said turning her head away. "What are they saying?" She asked as she turned her head back.

"It's about her father . . . she hid something from him." O'Wynn said.

Just then the two walked out of the Med bay, still conversing. "What's going on?" O'Wynn asked. Neither one answered him as they walked to the elevator.

"Joker, set a course for Illium." O'Wynn heard Shepard say before the elevator door shut. O'Wynn shrugged it off and went back to the table.

"Wonder what that was all about." Dr. Chakwas said.

"When they want us to know, we'll know." O'Wynn said.

After Liam met Kelly; He, O'Wynn, and Dr. Chakwas lounged in the Mess Hall for a while, talking with each other. "What's your specialty O'Wynn?" Dr. Chakwas asked.

"Melee combat." He said. "My personal favorite was the Tomahawk SCPO Mendez procured from me. Pristine weapon," he said with a small level of excitement, "I wish I had it here." He flexed his hand as he spoke.

"Interesting. What about you, Liam?" She asked.

"I'm a Marksman." Liam said with a grin.

"More like a religious sharp shooter." O'Wynn said.

"What do you mean by religious?" Dr. Chakwas asked. Liam gave O'Wynn's shoulder a light punch. "What he means, Ma'am, is that I recite Bible verses before I take a shot, time willing." He said. "Oh I see." Dr. Chakwas said with a nod.

"Dr. Chakwas, can I ask you something?" O'Wynn asked. "What's on your mind O'Wynn?" She replied. "What can you tell me about Miranda?" He asked. "Oh." Dr. Chakwas said sitting up a little straighter.

She preceded to tell O'Wynn everything she knew about Miranda. "If you want to know more you'll have to ask Kelly, or Miranda herself." She said.

"I'll be back." O'Wynn said.

He hustled to the elevator and rode up to the next floor.

"Hello Kelly." He greeted. "Back again?" She asked with a small laugh. "Ha, yeah. I was wondering what you could tell me about Miranda." O'Wynn said. "Alright, where should I begin?" She asked O'Wynn. "Wherever you want to." He said.

The two conversed for what seemed like hours when suddenly Commander Shepard's voice came over the intercom system and said that they'd be arriving on Illium momentarily.

He visually swept the CIC but didn't see Shepard.

"Kelly, do you know where the Commander is?" He asked.

"He's up on the Bridge." She said. He thanked her and hustled to the bridge.

Shepard and Joker were there.

"Commander, a word?" O'Wynn said. Shepard nodded. "Whatever the mission is here, Sir, I recommend taking Liam and myself along." O'Wynn said.

"And why is that?" Shepard asked, a undertone of sarcasm in his voice.

"We are Super Soldiers, Sir." O'Wynn said. Shepard crossed his arms.

"This wouldn't be because Miranda's involved, would it?" Shepard asked.

"What exactly are you implying, Sir." O'Wynn asked. "Just a question, seemed like you two have spent some time together lately." Shepard stated. "Valid evaluation, we have become friends recently, Sir. I thought it'd be best to start building bridges since we're in for the long haul in this." O'Wynn retorted.

Shepard was about to shoot off a sportful comment when he saw remembered the original topic.

He contemplated on O'Wynn's request for a moment. "Having you both would be an advantage." Shepard said. "I'll allow it. Gear up." He added.

"Thank you, Sir." O'Wynn said. O'Wynn about-faced and returned to the Mess Hall to retrieve Liam.

"Commander," Joker said.

"Yes Joker." Shepard replied.

"What was with all that?" Joker asked.

"Just playing on a hunch, Joker. A gut feeling." Shepard said.


End file.
